Holocene

WED MAY 22

READING FRENZY BENEFIT

Gulls

Join us for a benefit show to help Reading Frenzy RELAUNCH & EXPAND in a new location. Reading Frenzy is a Portland institution and a rare outlet for indie media, small press, zines, and D.I.Y. culture!

8:30pm | $5.00 day of show

Reading Frenzy was founded in 1994 and is devoted to independent, small press, and self-published titles. With a start-up fund of $4000 and a lot of gumption and support we've managed to bring the best of the independent press to Portland and beyond for 18+ years, producing over 500 literary and art events, launching our own publishing venture -- ... | more info

THU MAY 23

Abstract Earth Project presents...

Baths (Anticon)

Houses

D33J

Revel in the lush, immersive compositions of dazzling young producer Baths.

9pm | $12.00 advance
Tickets:

Brown Paper Tickets

For mercurial L.A. music-maker Will Wiesenfeld, Baths has been a long time coming. The 21-year-old has spent the better part of his days living amidst "pleasant" and "unremarkable" in the suburbs of the San Fernando Valley, so perhaps it's due to a general lack of local inspiration that Wiesenfeld's own work has never fit into a prefab box of its ... | more info

FRI MAY 24

APERITIVO HAPPY HOUR

DJ Honey O

Please join us from 5-8pm for our weekly Aperitivo Happy Hour, which--in European style--features an impressive array of free appetizers straight from the Holocene kitchen (while they last). We'll also have great (and cheap!) Cava, and delightful Continental cocktails! DJ duties are taken up by Honey O of the Miracles Club, playing perfect summery selections.

5pm | FREE!

FRI MAY 24

Damien Jurado

Tiburon (Luz Elena of Y La Bamba + Nick of Death Songs)

We're honored to host the legendary singer-songwriter Damien Jurado, whose 15-year career has been marked by incredibly innovative songcraft. EARLY SHOW: Doors at 7:30, show at 8.

7:30pm | $13.00 advance $15.00 day of show
Tickets:

Stranger Tickets

Last year, Damien Jurado released "Maraqopa," his latest collaboration with producer Richard Swift, dropping us into a brutal and benevolent landscape. The bold strokes and new turns the pair made with 2010's Saint Bartlett are taken even further. He throws open the gate on his oft insular dirges and allows them do some real wilding out in the ... | more info

FRI MAY 24

8 1/2 DJs: Future Club Edition

Wampire DJs

We've assembled an epic crew of our favorite DJs for an all-star dance party, exploring future club sounds!

10pm | $3.00 day of show

SAT MAY 25

EFFPortland Closing Party!

Early performance piece by:
Lori Felker

Live sets from
Regular Music

BRUMES

Darkwave dance party with:
DJ Ill Camino

DJ Copy

DJ Musique Plastique

DJ Cenobites

Join Holocene and ELEVEN Magazine in celebrating EFF (Experimental Film Festival) Portland! FREE BEFORE 11pm!

9pm | $3.00 day of show

EFFPortland erupted in 2012 in the fair City of Roses, in response to the need for a Portland-based experimental media showcase. It filled that void with a lava-hot amalgam of shorts, installations, performances, and collaborations. With a week of solid programming, some of which lasted for months beyond the official festival, across seven venues ... | more info

WED MAY 29

Ancient Heat EP RELEASE!

Foreign Orange

Phone Call

1980sprince (Ryan of Beisbol)

Come celebrate the release of Ancient Heat's new covers EP, Under the Covers.

8:30pm | $6.00 day of show

Ancient Heat is a large ensemble dance band, formed in 2010 by frontman and mastermind producer Brendan Grubb. The 11-piece powerhouse revels in an exhilarating mixture of west coast funk, disco, and R&B, merged with the infectious polyrhythms of African and Brazilian pop and a healthy dose of psychedelia. While Grubb will confess major affection ... | more info Ancient Heat is a large ensemble dance band, formed in 2010 by frontman and mastermind producer Brendan Grubb. The 11-piece powerhouse revels in an exhilarating mixture of west coast funk, disco, and R&B, merged with the infectious polyrhythms of African and Brazilian pop and a healthy dose of psychedelia. While Grubb will confess major affection for more mainstream disco divas (mention Donna Summer's recent passing and he'll still shed a tear!), his orchestration in Ancient Heat is decidedly experimental and daring.

Welcome to the world of Ancient Heat, where disco is not a genre but a force of nature. As their name suggests, the band seems to have tapped into a secret primordial well of funky sensualism, working their alchemical magic for the dancefloor and making all that glitters into gold.

"Is it All Over My Face?" is one of four cover songs to be released as Under the Covers, the first in a series of tribute EPs by Ancient Heat celebrating disco's rich history. The EP was recorded this past winter at Revolver Studios in the band's hometown of Portland, Ore., and is set to be released digitally next month along with a limited run of 100 cassettes. With this EP, Ancient Heat are bringing new vivacity and inventiveness to some deeply soulful cuts, while still conveying a great sense of respect, admiration and even indebtedness to those who came before.

If there is anything substantial to be gleaned by tossing out a cute genre moniker for Ancient Heat like "Portland Disco", we will find that substance in this EP. Their exuberant re-contextualization of classic works conveys an unpretentious style and a deep sincerity. This is a group with their feet on the ground, ditching the irony, egos, and iciness of more slick Italo disco. Instead, they bring us a west coast approach, with an earthy harmony about them that recalls the deep awe of the forest more so than the glitz of the club. The group dresses in all white for their compelling live performances, leading the local press to label these magic-makers: "a cross between Abba and The Children of God." It's a spectacle of skilled musicianship and ecstatic theatrics that you'll need to see to believe....
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